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  • 1.  Grant - Conditional or Contractual for Fundraising Totals?

    Posted 09-01-2025 01:14 PM

    Hi, Looking forward to seeing many of you next week!

    I have a question about a grant we received. Generally, we count conditional grants on a case by case basis, per our VP's request, and do not post to Finance. However, our Finance team is concerned it may be less conditional and simply be contractual, and we cannot count it at all. This grant is a big deal in our office, so we wanted to get your thoughts.

    We have applied for and were awarded a grant from a private college as a subaward/subrecipient. The agreement outlines the budget spending requirements and deliverables such as expenditure reports and progress reports. The grant could be terminated and unused funds would need to be returned. Is this considered a countable gift for fundraising purposes? This award was managed by the Advancement Office, and the first award was bigger than expected, and led us to an even larger award. It was a very big deal for our office - and the officer leading this as well as our board wonders how to best report this for our totals.

    As always, thank you in advance! 

    -Hillary



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    Hillary Cote
    Fort Lewis College
    hlcote@fortlewis.edu
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  • 2.  RE: Grant - Conditional or Contractual for Fundraising Totals?

    Posted 09-01-2025 01:30 PM
    This grant is definitely countable. The only question is, when can you count it?

    The primary distinction between a grant and a contract primarily hinges on whether the funder retains ownership of any assets at the conclusion of the project. If there is language regarding them receiving IP rights or patents, that's a contract.

    Report requirements are a given.

    The only issue here relates to the requirement to return unused funds. In theory, the funds are not even yours until they have been spent. Therefore, depending on your history with the funder and the frequency of grant cancellations and returned funds, you should hold off counting anything until the funds have been spent.

    I encountered oodles of these over the years. Often, we'd count the whole thing because we had never been asked to return anything. But ther were plenty of times that it felt safer to record a quarterly gift based on what was spent-to-date.

    As an aside, do make certain that the original funder for this (or any) grant wasn't a governmental entity. You mentioned that you are a subawardee/recipient. If the grant originated from a governmental source and was first awarded to that other college, and the government entity is still calling the shots, you may not be able to count it at all.

    John

    John H. Taylor, Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier Street
    Durham, NC     27705

    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987




    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Grant - Conditional or Contractual for Fundraising Totals?

    Posted 09-01-2025 04:18 PM

    Thanks, that was very helpful. Our Finance team is very cautious when it comes to grants. We recently created a rubric, but this one just made our Finance team hesitant. I will confirm the original grantor, I believe that the current organization has full control.

    -Hillary



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    Hillary Cote
    Fort Lewis College
    hlcote@fortlewis.edu
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    Original Message


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